Folding rocking chair



June 25, 1935. Q, J, OL EN 2,006,277

FOLDING ROCKING CHAIR Filed June 24, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l filly f048,920

dam/M1 June 25, 1935. o. J. OLSEN 2,006,277

' FOLDING ROCKINQ' CHAIR I Q Fi led June 24, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I FI dmmw Patented June 25,1935 2,006,271;

r umr so STAT ES PAT E NJT OFFICE;

. 2,006,277 g v I FOLDING ROCKING- CHAIR Olaf J. Olsen, Miami, Fla.Application June 24, 1929, Serial No. 373,380

Claims. (CL 155- 56) My invention relates to folding rocking chairspoints of intersection. My invention furthercona of. the class wherein aback. frame and a seat sists in a chair as mentioned in which theendsframe are. pivotally connected to a suitable base of theflexible memberare secured to transverse construction, andarrangedinintersectingplanes; bars which are detachably connecte'dgtotheseat i and providedwith a strip of flexible material conand back frameswhereby the flexible element 5 nected to theframe membersso as to form apormay be readily removed for reversing, cleaning or tion. of the seatand the major portion of the repairing. My invention further consists inim ba k- Qfthe h i proved means for holding one of the attaching Anobject of my invention is to iprovide a bars so that the length of theflexible elements chair of the character mentioned which maybe m y bereadily justed to suit the occupant of 10: folded flat-to occupy butlittle space when not in the chair by merely turning the barto take upor use andwhich may-be readily and quickly expay out a portion of thestrip andthen slipping tendedfor use. A further object of my inventionthe bar into position. My inventionfurther. conis to provide an improvedbase construction for sists in providing suitable pads or, feetto-support the chair which will fold parallel with the seat the ends ofthe pivoted. back and seat frames 15:

and back frame members. A further object of above the supportingsurface,so that the swingmy invention is to provide a chair of the charm of hames will not cause the chair to actor mentioned which will not creep,or mar the Creep 0 to mar the surface upon which the chair surface onwhich it rests, and which will be rests, and which willfurther adapt thechainfor 2 equally'adapted to house, porch or beach use. A u e pon thbeach. a I 9, further object of my invention is to provide in a Myinvention further. consists in a C a r as chair-of the charactermentioned, improved means 1 n din which the back andseat frame DQ 1- foradjusting the length of the flexible strip to i n are p d a sufii n i cp twh re suitthe-comfortof the user and to compensate t eir pl nt c o pe p ch n the for any stretching. or; shrinking of the material. hands orfingers betweenthem; andin which-the A further object of my inventionisto provide, in Connecting links are at 511011 e t the frame a chair ofthe character mentioned, a construcmembers that they cannotcatch orpinchthe fin tion. and-arrangement whereby the flexible seat ge S W thany norma use of-the chair. .Myinand back ,member may be readily removedfor vention further consists in various detailsoftconreversing; cleaningor repairing. A furtherobject struction and arrangements of parts,all-as -wi11 30.

oftmy-invention is-to provide a chair of the charbe fully describedhereinafter and particularly acter mentioned which shall be extremelycompointed out. in the claims. v 4 fortable and which-may be readilyrocked by the Myinvention will be more readily understood occupant andwhich shall be noiseless when in by-reference to the-accompanyingdrawings forma use. -A.;further object of my invention is to proingapartof, this specification and-in which--' 35 vide a chair of the classmentioned of suchcon- Figure l is a side elevation of a chaireinbodyestruction andv arrangements of parts, that the ing., myinvention in itspreferred form, thechair fingers or hands of the occupant cannot bebeing illustratedin upright position in fulllines pinched between theelements of the device while andina reclining position in dotted .lines,I

; in normal use. Other objects of my invention are Fig. -2is a sideelevationof the chair in folded 40 to provide a. chair, of the classmentioned which position and illustrated upon :an enlarged scale,shall-be strong and durable, lightiin weight and Fig. 3: isa-frontelevation of the folded chair, which shallvbe; impossible to tilt overbackward illustrating one sidecomplete, theother side being whenoccupied. Other objects will appearherepartly-broken. away,

I; inafter. A

. Fig-..4=is a-detailsection onthe lined-4 of Fig.- With these objectsin view my invention con- 1, upon anzenlarged. scale, a sists generallyin a chair comprising a base, a Fig; .5iisa similarviewon the line 5--5ofaFig. .1, back frame pivotally connected to theforward Fig; 6 isa-detailtplan view of'aportionof the portion, of the base, a seat framepivotally and seatconstruction, ill s the means forecl- 505 slidablyconnected to the .rear portion of. the justably securingonetendoftheflexible member baseand a flexible element. connected at theof the chain. i lower endito the seat and atthe-upper end to the 7 isasection :on theuline 'l.! of Fig.5, backframe adjacent its upper end,the planes of Fig. 8 is a similar view illustrating the, flexible theseat and back framesiintersecting, and arm strip, holding; bar in.position to. be insertedziin 7 rest linksconnecting said frames: above:theirv place,

of the base members, and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary detail rear elevation of a portion of the back.

Referring now to the drawings l indicates generally the back frame and 2the seat frame which are arranged in intersecting planes and have theirlower ends pivotally connected at 3 and 4 respectively to a suitablebase construction 5. This base consists principally of a pair ofparallel bars 8-6, which extend horizontally from front to back of thechair.

The back frame I comprises a pair of substan tially vertically extendingside rails I, I, which are connected adjacent their upper ends by a pairof cleats 8 and 9 respectively, and beneath the lowest level of the seatby a cleat 10. The lower ends of the rails l are pivotally connected tothe forward end of the base bars 6 as by pivot pins I l, which arepreferably steel rivets, the rails i being provided with brass bushingsI2 to eliminate friction and noise. The seat frame comprises a pair ofside rails l3, I3, the lower ends of which are pivotally connectedto-the rear portion of the rail '6, and a plurality of cleats I5, 16 andI1 connecting the up per forward portion of the bars and forming themajor portion of theseat. The forward portion of the bars l3 to whichthe cleats I5, l6 and I! are connected, are curved slightly downwardlyto properly and comfortably position the seat of the chair, and topermit the various side elements to be folded fiat. In chairs of theclass under consideration, the flexible element is usually secured to asingle front bar,'or the rigid front portion slants upwardly so that ineither instant the forward portion tends to'cut into the legs of theuser of the chair, causing great discomfort. By having the major portionof the seat formed of the cross cleats and having this portion slopeddownwardly at an'angle to the general plane of the frame members,greater comfort is effected.

' The pivot pins I4 areslidably mountedjin slots l8 formed in the rearportion of the base mem-' bets 6 to facilitate folding the device aswill appear hereinafter. The rear ends of the slots 3 areprovided withbrass bushings l9 whichare engaged bythe pins I4 when the-chair is inuse; and these bushings are held in place by transverse rivets 20, whichalso strengthen the bars 6.

The frame is completed by a pair of-links 2 I, 2|, the ends of which arepivotally connected tothe bars land i3, respectively, of the back andseat frames, and above the intersection of the planes of said-frames.Secured to the upper edges of these'links'are' arm rests 22. The forwardends 2 of the links 2| are bent downwardly at an angle to themajorportionof the links as indicatedat 23,.whichserve severaljusefulfunctions. It permits the'bars and links of the frame to lie parallelwhen thedevice is folded, as will be clear from Fig. 2 of the drawings}it allows for the proper positioning of the pivotal connection betweenthe side rails of the back'and seat sections and elevates the arm restsinto a proper and comfortable position for the forearm; and it alsomakes such an angle with the adjacent seat frame rail that the fingerscannot be pinched between the same. It should also be noted that theback frame is pivotally connected to the inner faces of the-base bars 6and links 2| and that the side rails ofthe seat frame are pivotallyconnected to the outer faces of these members, by which of the drawings.

on the member 25 will hold the bar in place.

construction the rails of the seat and back frames are spaced aconsiderable distance apart so that the hands cannot be pinched betweenthe same. When the seat is inthe lowermost position the rear cleats I!thereof abut the back rail .1 just above the cleat II]. This limits thedownward movement of the seat and aids the user in entering or leavingthe chair. The rails I are provided withcushioning'bumpers 24 to cushion'theim- 25 indicates a flexiblestrip of fabricsuch as canvas or thelike, which constitutes a portion of pact of the seat member I!thereagainst.

the seat and the major portion'of the back of the chair. The ends of thecanvas strip are held in position by transverse bars 26'and 21. Thesebars are identical and are illustrated in Fig. 9 Each bar comprises apair of] similar strips 28, 28 between which the ends of the fabricstrip is clamped by means of screws 29. At their ends the strips arereduced in thickness as indicated at 30 and provided with holes 3| toreceive screws 32 for. attaching the bar 26 to the rails 1 directlyabove the cleat 9 of the back.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide improved means foradjusting the length of the I Figs. 6, 7 and 8 short bars 33 aresecuredto the underfaces of the cleatslB and I1, spanning the spacebetween said cleats and each provided with an upwardly extending portion34 terminating in a forwardly extendingtongue 35, forming a socket 36 toreceive the respective'end 30 of the bar 21.

The flexible fabric may be wound upon or unwound from the bar 21 to thedesired extent and the ends 30 of the bars slipped into the sockets asindicated in Figs. 7 and 8. Itis obvious that with this construction anadjustment of the length of the member 25 may be readilymade, and thatit is impossible for the bar 21 to become dislodged while the seat is inuse, as the tension A rivet 31 as shown in Figs. 6 and '7 strengthensthe socket I. i

Suitable supporting blocks are providedwhich are positioned under theends of the base bar-6 when the chair is extended for use. Thesepadsprevent the ends of the'seat and back rails from coming in contact withthe floor, thereby preventing creeping of the chair and marring of thefloor. They arealso advantageous in supporting the chair on a sandybeach. Each pad preferably comprises a rectangular block 38, the edgesof the lower face of which are preferably slightly beveled as at 39.Each block is provided with" a bracket 40 riveted or otherwisesecuredthereto and comprising a pair of upwardly extendingears 4|through which extend a pivot pin II or l4. At their forward ends thebars 6 are slightly enlarged downwardly as at 42 to engage the upperface of the respective blocks 38 and are riveted thereto, as indicatedin Fig. 4. The rear pads are spaced from the bars 6 and are slidablewith the pivot pins l4 as they move in the slots l8.

The device may befolded by merely swinging the forward end of the seatoutwardly and upwardly which bring all of the side frame members intoparallelism as illustrated in Figs. 2 v t and 3, so that the devicefolds perfectlyfiat with the exception of the slight angular. projectionof,

theseat. The adjustability of the length of the fabric strip has beendescribed butiit. should also be noted that the strip may be readilyremoved for reversing, repairing or cleaning. The lower bar 21 may bereadily detached from the socket by merely slipping the same therefrom,and the upper bar may be detached by removing the screws 32. The chairis light in Weight, strong, durable and comfortable and may be readilycarried from place to place and subjected to normally rough usagewithout injury. It is also practically impossible to tilt the chair overwhen in use.

I claim:

1. A chair of the class described comprising a base, a back framepivotally connected to the forward portion of the base, aseat framepivotally connected to the rear portion of the base,

said seat portion including a plurality of transverse spaced cleats atthe forward end of the frame constituting the major portion of the seatof the chair, a flexible element having its upper end secured adjacentthe upper end of the back frame, a transverse bar secured to the lowerend of said element, bars secured tothe underfaces of adjacent seatcleats and spanning the space between them and longitudinally projectingtongues secured to the under edges of said bars and forming therewithopen ended sockets to removably receive the end of the transverse barsecured to the flexible element and links connecting the back and seatframes-as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a chair of the class described a base comprising a pair ofstraight parallel bars extending from front to rear, the rear portionsof said bars being formed with longitudinally extending slots, a backframe pivotally connected to the forward ends of said base bars tooscillate thereon and a seat frame having pivot pins pivotally andslidably mounted in said slots, said seat frame being adapted tooscillate on said pins, and supporting blocks connected under the frontand rear ends of the base bars respectively, the blocks at the rear endsbeing pivotally supported with respect to the base bars, as and for thepurpose described.

3. A chair as set forth in claim 2 further characterized in that thesupporting blocks at the front ends of the base bars are fixed to theforward ends of said bars and the supporting blocks at the rear ends ofthe base bars are pivotally connected to the lower ends of the seatframe by the pivot pins and are slidable therewith, and

links connecting the back and seat frames, ,sub-

chair, a flexible element extending from adjacent the rearmost of saidcleats to adjacent the top of the back frame, and the portion of theside rails of the seat frameato which the cleats are connected beingbent downwardly from the plane of the rails, as and for the purposementioned.

5. A chair of the class described comprising a base, a back frame and aseat frame pivotally connected to the forward and the rear portions ofsaid base respectively, to oscillate thereon, a flexible element securedto the seat and back frames and constituting portions of the seat andback, side links connecting the seat and back frames above theintersection of their planes and constituting arm rests, the forwardends of said links being bent downwardly to avoid acute angles betweensaid links and seat frame, as I and for the purpose specified.

. OLAF J. OLSEN.

